Earth’ Creator Noah Hawley Reveals How His Son Inspired His First TV Cameo in Series Premiere

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Alien: Earth, Season 1 Episode 1, “Neverland.”]

Alien: Earth has finally landed, and the premiere unveiled a very special cameo from series creator Noah Hawley, who appeared in a flashback sequence as Marcy’s, a.k.a. Wendy’s (Sydney Chandler), dad.

Hawley, who helms FX‘s other hit series Fargo, writes all of the show’s episodes and also directed the opener that stars him as Marcy and Hermit’s (Alex Lawther) father. Marcy is introduced as a young girl who is dying from cancer, but is “saved” by Prodigy Corporation when her consciousness is transferred into an artificial body, making her the first hybrid.

Awakening in an adult body and given the name Wendy, she is obsessed with keeping a close eye on her brother and concerned about his safety when he’s called in to survey the scene of the USCSS Maginot crash. The space vessel commissioned by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation was meant to deliver new life forms to Earth, but crash-landed in Prodigy Corp territory.

While he is unnamed and appears very briefly, Hawley’s cameo is certainly a standout because it’s the first time he’s ever appeared onscreen in a TV show. “I’ve never done it before,” Hawley told reporters during a Q&A. “It was not my goal… I always talk about trying to combine maximum creativity with maximum efficiency. And my son had asked if there was a role for him,” Hawley continued.

The creator’s son, Lev Hawley, made a cameo as a young Hermit in the flashback scenes. When it came to picking the right role for his son, Hawley determined that young Hermit was the right fit, but he was left with the conundrum of who would play Hermit and Marcy’s dad in that scenario. “I wasn’t going to write scenes for it because I just wanted the emotional feeling of it,” Hawley revealed. “And so I thought, ‘Okay, well, he could play [Hermit] at a young age, but then what am I going to do? I’m going to cast some day players to come in, and he’s never acted before?.. And I was like, it’s just easier if I do it, if I sit down on the floor with him and improvise, and I can make him relax.”

And so, the Noah Hawley TV cameo was born. “In some ways, it felt like the best way to direct him was to just be there with him,” Hawley continued. “But there was something nice, metaphorical about being my lead actor’s parent.” Still, the writer, director, and showrunner advised, “Don’t look for a lot of me in the show.”

Still, it’s a sweet little behind-the-scenes reveal behind this epic sci-fi series. What did you think of Noah Hawley’s Alien: Earth cameo? Let us know in the comments section, and stay tuned for more on the show in the weeks ahead.

Alien: Earth, Tuesdays, 8/7c, FX and Hulu